Quite a pickle you have our heroes in...one without a hand, one shot in the side and one child kidnapped. I'd say that's about right for you! Are you going for the happy ending or the terribly depressing cliffhanger to be continued ending? I know you won't actually tell me, but I thought I'd give it a shot. Good, but depressing, post.

At this point, I don't know how our heroes are going to get out of this one. Exar Kun is being his evil old self. Mara is now without a hand, Jaina is in the clutches of the stormtroopers, and Leia is injured. I just hope Leia doesn't lose a child, because I'm getting frustrated with all the authors who tempt us with that elusive fourth Solo child, then cop out at the end.

Great, wonderful, Mara's lost her hand, or at least it seems that way, and Jaina's in the hands of a stormtrooper. *whimpers, then growls and sends Saber and his friends after the stormtrooper with an order to get Jaina back and then goes after Exar Kun*

Ooh very good, the suspense in these last posts are killing me. Especially they end of this one, though I loved how Mara was trying to help Jen in turning Xan. Good to see Jen has concern for herself and her son too. I like that.

Question abour Mara's hand: can a limb severed by a lightsaber be re-attached surgically if a doctor gets to it in time?

Looks like Leia's wounded too. How long until reinforcements arrive?

BTW, I got the Original Trilogy on DVD for Christmas. I watched ANH on New Year's Eve. I love that documentary Empire of Dreams, One thing I found interesting. It was an early trailer for ROTJ. In the trailer, Luke's lightsaber is blue. I remember seeing that in the theatres was back in the winter of 1983. I thought I'd imagined it. Really ticks me off that they changed the saber colour to green for the film.

LP-After reading and re-reading your last post, I've been overcome with the morbid desire to see Luke go dark in revenge for Mara. *takes deep breath and counts to ten, slowly unclenching fists* Great post by the way, if I haven't said so already. You've made Winter Break a lot less boring for me!

SoloFan: Who else has tempted you with the elusive fourth Solo child and then yanked him away?

AvenKiel: So...does that mean Leia also needs to lose her hand somewhere down the line? And...glad to make your X-mas break more interesting

Jedi-2B: Ah...ye of little faith...

flowerbee: Yes, reading others' posts can definitely cause problems with spoilers. And d'you think a bat will work on Sithy?

Kaylle: Thanks! And...are you back at school for IAP? I have fond memories of IAP.... * sigh *

BA: You really think Exar Kun is going down? I'll tell you this...he's not the one to die...

Mirax-Jade: Evil sounds about right for me!

padawan_lunetta: Jen's primary concern is her son...which is actually a scary thing... (Anyone seen the Manchurian Candidate? Just saw the remake on Saturday...Why did I mention this? Oh, no reason...)

RebelMom: Well, I had to make the final showdown something spectacular, didn't I?

Izzie: I agree...the tragedy in SE Asia is terrible, and wish the best for them.

TorontoJediMaster: I agree that the extras DVD makes the whole DVD set really worth it. The Empire of Dreams bit was a lot of fun, and I loved Carrie Fisher's mouthy remarks.

Who else has tempted you with the elusive fourth Solo child and then yanked him away?

GreatOne was the most recent one to tempt me with that elusive fourth Solo child, but you also did it in "The Jade Prophecy" by having Ralia die. I don't remember all the stories that have done it, but my main point is that for all the griping people do about the EU, when it comes to Han and Leia's kids, most fanfic authors stick with the three from the EU.